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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23744767">To Other Choices</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rellanka/pseuds/Rellanka'>Rellanka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Year Of Cloudy Skies [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>FF7 Remake Spoilers, Love/Hate, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:20:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23744767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rellanka/pseuds/Rellanka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud making a different decision at the end of the Remake.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sephiroth/Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Year Of Cloudy Skies [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1697269</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>222</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Other Choices</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Here, have an extra fic for the day, because some people refuse to stay in their lanes and let people be free to ship what they want. Summary edited a bit, because anti's don't deserve that much attention.</p><p>#Slight implication of dub-con through Jenova cell influence<br/>#A dark and twisted romance; but still a romance<br/>#how it should have ended</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Let us defy destiny… together.” </p><p>The words where ringing through Cloud’s mind as he stood there and stared at the man that had been his hero, his ally, his… his <i>everything</i> for one brief, all too short period of time when someone- someone- (a friend? Had it been a friend that had gone with them on that mission? Why couldn’t Cloud <i>remember?</i>) <b>someone</b> had seen the attraction between them and had pushed them into a romance that burned bright and hot and ended almost before it could really start. </p><p>Ended. By Sephiroth slaughtering his mother in cold blood. By Sephiroth burning down his home. By Sephiroth burning down <i>everyone’s</i> homes in town while he left bodies trailed after himself like the most macabre of breadcrumbs. </p><p>Sephiroth’s hand was still outstretched, and all Cloud’s anger, all of his rage and bitterness and wrath for what Sephiroth had done made him want to draw his sword and make it clear that his answer was ‘No.’ </p><p>But if he did say no, what else was Cloud allying himself with? With those beings that seemed to help or harm with no rhyme or reason? Beings that Cloud didn’t understand, that he couldn’t make sense of? Cloud knew Sephiroth. He knew the dark, twisted corners of the man’s mind well. But he also knew Sephiroth’s strength. And if Cloud and his friends were going to go up against beings like the ones they’d met before, beings like the harbinger of fate that they nearly failed to bring down… they were going to need someone of Sephiroth’s strength. </p><p><i>The watchers killed Jessie and Biggs.</i> A sibilant, slithering voice kept whispering softly in the back of his mind. <i>They killed all of those people in Sector Seven, too. They <b>kept</b> you from being able to save them. Is your anger truly so great that you can risk them wining?</i> </p><p>It was echoed in every heartbeat, in every cell that was even now desperately longing for him to be wrapped in Sephiroth’s embrace. Louder and louder it got, until finally, finally Cloud broke. </p><p>And decided that of his two enemies, he would rather take his chances with the one that he knew. </p><p>When he stepped forward to accept Sephiroth’s hand- when he walked into the man’s arms- his eyes were still blue.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wanted to make it clear by the color of Cloud's eyes that while he was definitely influenced into making the decision he did by Sephiroth manipulating the Jenova cells inside of him and trying to push him toward a decision, he wasn't <i>totally</i> under Sephiroth's control when he made it. I love puppet Cloud, but considering what the anti posted, I wanted to make it a teeny bit more Cloud's choice. Written quickly, so please excuse any mistakes I've made. Have a great day, guys, and never let the anti's get you down!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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